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NAVY NEWS, JUNE 1996
Brazen's last bow
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TICKET sales for rare Beat Retreat performances by 300 Royal Marines in London have been so buoyant that the organisers now expect the event to raise £100,000 for Naval charities. The three evening performances on June 11-13 are being held in honour of the 75th birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Corps' Captain General. The ceremony
will take place on Horse Guards Parade, culminating on June 13 with the salute being taken by Prince Philip in the presence of the Queen.
"This is the biggest gathering of Royal Marines musicians for five years, since the last Beat Retreat ceremo-
ny in London," said Lt Col Anthony Smith, the chief
organiser. "It is unlikely that we will see another such event this millenium."
A total of 20,000 tickets are on sale for seats for the
HMS BRAZEN returned to
three, 75-minute performances in which musicians
Devonport for the last time
from the five Royal Marines bands will combine under
before decommissioningfor
the baton of the Director of the Royal Marines School of music, Lt Col Richard Waterer. Each performance begins at 6.15pm, with ticket hold-
sale to the Brazilian navy. The Type 22 frigate will be
handed over to her new owners at the end of August after 14 years in Royal Navy
ers being encouraged to be in their seats by 6.00. Ticket prices range from £5-£10 and may be obtained through
the Beating Retreat Office at Portsmouth (tel. 01705
service. Her sister ship HMS
547205) or via credit card sales (tel. 0171 344 4444).
Carrier collects Bosnia Bernard the 'Bard of awards Plymouth' dies at 82 THE QUEEN's Commendation for Valuable Service has been awarded to two officers in recognition of HMS Invincible's peacekeeping operations in the Adriatic.
Marine dies after assault POLICE in Leeds are investigating the mystery death of a Royal Marine who was assaulted after he left a bar in the city. Mne Mark Clements (23), of
Comacchio Group RM, died on May 6 of head injuries he received in an incident 36 hours before. His
death is being treated as suspicious, though so far investigations are not being classed as a murder
They go to the carrier's commanding officer Capt lan Forbes and to Lt Cdr lan Seabrook, RN Air Warfare Instructor 800 Sqn
CO of 800 Sqn Lt Cdr Jerry Milward receives the MBE. During Invincible's recent six
month deployment, with her three squadrons, 800 Sqn, 849 A Flight Airborne Early Warning Sqn and
814 Anti-Submarine Warfare Sqn embarked, she remained at sea for three quarters of the time, flying round the clock in support of
inquiry. A spokesman for Leeds police
NATO Operation Deny Flight. She sailed early from Palma to enable her FA2 Sea Harriers to operate as part of Operation
assault Mark was filmed on security video being carried by two other
bombing campaign of Serbian military targets around Sarajevo.
men who may have been trying to help him. "They seemed to lose their grip and dropped Mark. At
Montrose sails
present it is not clear whether he
HMS MONTROSE
told Navy News that after the
sustained his injuries as a result of the assault or of his fall."
Battering for Britannia HMY BRITANNIA entered dry dock for repairs after being battered by mountainous seas on her way back from deployment to the USA and Canada.
The Royal Yacht returned to Portsmouth on May 8 missing a 16ft section of bulwark from the
starboard bow and with a 3ft scrape mark on her port bow. The damage, which is regarded as minor, was caused when she was
hit by two 40-50ft high waves in quick succession. No one was injured.
Deliberate Force, the NATO
has
left
Devonport on her first operational deployment as Falkland Isands Guard Ship.
Divers may have found Pheasant
ARMY DIVERS think they may have located the wreck of a Royal Navy destroyer which vanished almost without trace during the
First World War. The seven-man expedition from the Adjutant General's Corps believe the uncharted wreck they have found 78m deep off the Orkneys is HMS Pheasant, lost with all hands in 1917 while guard-
ing the approaches to Scapa Flow. At the time a trawler was sent
out to investigate the ship's disappearance, but found only an oil slick and one body - that of a midshipman. To this day there is no firm evidence as to how the ship
met her fate. Diving in poor conditions, the Army team were not able definite-
ly to identify the vessel they found, but their sighting of deck torpedo tubes on the wreck pointed to her being Pheasant.
THE MAN whose witty, maritime verses earned him the title
"The Bard of Plymouth" has died aged 82. Bernard Campion, whose views in the form of saline poems often brightened the letters columns of Navy News, ended his long and distinguished Naval career in 1956
as an MAA. Seriously injured during the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales,
he was taken to hospital in Singapore where he was captured by invading Japanese troops - an experience he recounted for Navy News readers in our VJ Day supplement.
Morale booster His sense of humour was undiminished by the ordeals of Changi Jail and the Burma Railway, and during his captivity he helped to
bolster the morale of his fellow prisoners of war by organising camp concerts. He was dubbed The Bard of Plymouth by broadcaster Freddie Grisewood, amused by his irrepressible contributions to the
Radio programme Any Answers. Mr Campion leaves a widow and daughter.
WIN TICKETS FOR THE TOURNAMENT A HUGE "submarine" with frogmen and torpedoes provides an ambitious grand finale to this year's Royal Tournament at Earls Court.
tion entrants who can give the correct answer to the following question: The Royal Navy field gun run, and the word commando now applied to Royal Marines troops and units - both have their origins in which war?
The Navy takes the lead for the 22 shows Ll The Crimean War from July 9-20, for which the theme is Rule Q The Boer War Britannia. Besides the usual field gun runs, Ll World War I there will be a cliff assault display by Royal Tick one of the above boxes and send this coupon with Marines Commandos, a show by the RN winname, address and telephone number to: Royal dow ladder team, and a spectacular pro- your Tournament Competition, Navy News, HMS Nelson, gramme of music by 200 Royal Marines musi- Portsmouth PO1 3HH. cians and 80 hornpipe dancers.
Other features include the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, a musical drive by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and an RAF four-wheel drive obstacle course. Guest performers include over 300 Irish pipers, drummers and dancers, and from Hong Kong the Lion Dancers, Dragon Dancers on motorcycles and the HK Police Band, Pipes and Drums. The spectacular thrills and pageantry of the Royal Tournament are yours to experience free with three friends or members of your family, if you are among the winners of this competition being run by Navy News. The tournament organisers have provided three sets of four tickets (each set worth £46) as prizes for three competi-
Coupons giving the correct answer will go into a prize draw to establish the three winners, each of whom will receive a set of four tickets. Closing date for the draw Is June 27, and the winners will be informed on June 28, or as soon as possible after that date, and their names announced in our August edition. More than one entry can be submitted but photocopied coupons cannot be accepted. Do not include anything else in your envelope. No correspondence can be entered Into and no entry returned. The competition is not open to Navy News employees or their families.
Broadsword was sold to Brazil last year, and a third of the class - HMS Brilliant -
will join her soon. Brazen, which returned flying her paying off pennant, had spent seven
months as part of NATO's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean engaged on Operation Sharp Guard.
During her enforcement of
the UN arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia she rescued 30 Albanian boat people from drowning in the
Adriatic, and made
104
enforcement boardings -
claimed as a record for any ship of any nation on a single deployment. • Brazen's strong-arm tactics-page 10.
Field Gun at Collingwood THIS YEAR'S Brickwoods Trophy Field Gun Competition
takes place at HMS Collingwood on June 15 at 1200.
Tickets cost £2 (£5 for a family ticket and £1 for pensioners), proceeds going to charity.
Funnel fire FIRE damaged HMS Hurworth's funnel while she was on fishery protection duties off the Isle of Wight
last month. No-one was injured and the minehunter returned to
Portsmouth under her own power.
An investigation is under way.
Navy Atews MONTHLY QUIZ ENTRY FORM A specially devised Navy News Monthly Quiz is featured in the 1996 Navy News Calendar. Readers of Navy News and users of the 1996 'Power of the Sea' Calendar are invited to take part in the Quiz with the winners receiving prizes donated by Navy News. Each monthly leaf of the 1996 Calendar poses a question, the answer to which is revealed by possessing a knowledge of naval matters or careful reading of the Navy News 1996 Calendar. Test yourself and pay careful attention to each calendar leaf! The questions will be reprinted in Navy News for the appropriate month (June question shown here).
Each monthly issue of Navy News throughout 1996 will contain an entry form for that month's question. DO NOT SEND YOUR ENTRY IN YET! When all twelve original entry forms have been completed, contestants should submit them together in one envelope to arrive at the offices of Navy News not later than 31 March 1997. Entries with all twelve correct answers will be entered in a prize draw conducted at Navy News offices in April 1997. Winners will be announced in the May 1997 issue of Navy News. The first name drawn will receive a prize of £300. There will be a rize of £100 for the second name drawn and eight
June '96 Question
further consolation prizes of £25. So just for fun, test your knowledge of naval
HMS Owen eradiated the population of which initiated island in I960''
matters and win yourself a prize.
Write your answer here
NAME ... ADDRESS
POSTCODE ... TEL. NO. . . . . . Keep Ihis coupon in :i
u have loHix-li-d all Iwclvi
Judges decision will he final. No correspondence will be entered into. Emplo\ees or relatives of Na\l\ News staff are ineligible for ibis quiz.
Published by Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, and printed by Portsmouth Publishing and Printing Ltd, The News Centre, Hilsea, Portsmouth PO2 9SX